Summer Sleepwalk
by Stef
Summary: AU: No eclipse. No powers. Elle meets Gabriel at a summer resort. During her stay, a series of murders occur. Who's the killer? And when she finds out... will she care? -COMPLETE!-
1. I Wish I Stayed Home

Elle sits in the back seat of her Daddy's Cadillac. She watches with disdain as the scenery out her window slowly turns from urban sprawl to backwoods. They weren't saying much on the long drive, Elle and her Daddy. He'd only told her "You wanted a vacation, now we're taking one."

The last place she'd expected was a place out in the middle of the sticks. Probably didn't even have electricity. She dreams of Hawaii. The rolling waves, the clear water. Maybe she'd even meet a guy there. Dreams come true in Blue Hawaii. She'll never meet her Elvis out here in the boonies.

"Daddy, remind me again why we're going here and not, say, Hawaii?" Elle asks.

"Because, Elle-Belle," Daddy says. "We've been to Hawaii twice in the last year. It's time for something different."

Elle pouts as the car pulls on to a dirt road. A sign out the window reads: "Welcome to Killermann's: A Family Resort!" Great. She can see it all now: family dinners, cheesy activities, and lots of boring interaction with people she'll be forced to pretend to like.

"I wish I stayed home." Elle says, bumping her knees against the back of Daddy's seat.

"I'd be crazy to leave you home alone." Daddy says, looking at her in the rear view mirror. "Especially with that serial killer on the loose! You know you fit the description of the last few victims he's killed."

Elle rolls her eyes. "I'm not scared of some dumb old pervert. I can totally handle myself." She counts off her reasons on her fingers. "I know how to shoot a gun, I took that ladies' self defense class, I keep mace in my purse-"

"We're here!" Daddy interrupts. He pulls their car up to a large, antiquated building that looks like it used to be a plantation. Elle instantly feels unimpressed. Daddy exits the car and then opens her door for her, all but forcing her from the car. "Let the help get your bags, sweetheart."

Elle steps out of the car and watches as some random guys come out and fetch their bags. Okay, so the service is all right. Still, not Hawaii.

Elle pulls the map of the grounds out of her back pocket. The building she and Daddy are currently in front of looks like the welcome center/main building/dining hall. Straight to the back looks like a lake and boating area. Guest cabins are off to the right rear of the main building, while staff cabins are to the left rear. The property seems secluded, surrounded by hundreds of acres of woods on all sides.

Definitely not Hawaii, Elle later decides. She sits at a circular dining table with Daddy, two of Daddy's colleagues, and Daddy's colleagues' sons.

"Do you two still keep in touch with Charles?" Daddy asks. His words aren't exactly slurred, but he's getting there.

Daddy's female colleague looks uncomfortable, but smiles anyway. Elle thinks this lady is used to keeping things to herself. "Not lately, Bob." She answers.

The lady's husband notices. Everyone at the table does. "Bob, did we tell you Peter just finished med school?"

Elle is intrigued. Med school, eh?

"Great job, Peter" Daddy says to the younger of the brothers across the table.

Peter looks mildly upset with his father. "Thanks, but it's not med school." He's talking to everyone, but he's looking at his father. "It's nursing school. I'm a nurse. Not a doctor."

"Not a doctor yet." Peter's father adds.

Elle watches as Peter stands up from the table. He looks apologetically at his mother before going outside. "Sorry Ma. I need to be excused." Was he crying?

"Arthur, that was unfair." Peter's mother admonishes her husband.

"He'll get over it, Angela." Arthur promises.

"You know how sensitive he is." She says, but leaves it at that. She then looks to her other son. "Nathan, tell Mr. Bishop how law school is going."

"Going great, actually." The older son begins, but Elle tunes him right out.

"I think I'm gonna go get some air, too. Excuse me." Elle says, standing up to follow Peter's trail to the dining room's back balcony. When she finally catches up with him, she notices that he is indeed crying. "I didn't think boys could cry."

Embarrassed, Peter wipes at his eyes with his hands and attempts to look less obvious. "It's allergies."

Elle folds her arms. "Uh-huh. And you're a doctor."

"Look, just because our parents are friends, it doesn't mean we have to be." Peter says, disguising a sniffle.

Elle changes the subject. "Do you wanna get outta here? All this faux formality is really stifling me."

"Where can we even go? We're, like, trapped." Peter complains.

"I dunno. We can go exploring or something." Elle shrugs.

"Too many bugs." Peter says, waving at an imaginary mosquito.

Elle blows her bangs out of her face. "Well, what if-"

"You attention, ladies and gentlemen!" The activities director shouts suddenly through the PA system. "While you finish your dessert, please enjoy some music and dancing by our own Killermann's Night Watchmen!" He hops off the stage when the band begins to play a slow, lazy surf guitar song Elle remembers her parents dancing to when her mother was still alive.

"Ohh, I love this song!" Elle coos. She grabs Peter's hand. "Come dance with me."

Peter's protests go unheard as Elle drags him onto the dance floor. "I'm not much of a dancer. Can't we just hang out on the balcony?"

"You'll be fine." Elle convinces him. "Here, I'll even lead."

Peter sighs. "This is awkward."

"Shut up and do it, nurse-boy." Elle commands, leading Peter in the stiffest dancing she'd ever done in her life.

When the song is over, the band plays another instrumental surf piece. Elle recognizes it from a movie she'd seen a few years before. "So have you heard these guys before?"

Peter nods. "They play here every summer, almost. In addition to music lessons, they play a lot of dated music like this for dances and dinners here. They're pretty nice guys... although the lead guitarist is a little weird."

"Weird?" Elle looks up at the stage, but notices nothing strange about the musician in question. "Seems fine to me. Tall, dark, kinda cute. Although the eyebrows-" She stops when he stares at her. Elle doesn't know quite what to do, so she smiles her fake smile at him- a nervous habit she can't seem to shake. The guitar player stares at her for a small eternity before smirking. "Wow." Elle whispers. No boy has ever looked at her like that, she thinks. It's too intense to ignore.

Peter is dumbfounded. "Wow?"

"I'm sorry Peter, but I gotta go." Elle pushes Peter to the side to run back to Daddy's table.

"What is it, Elle-Belle?" Daddy asks. His face is red. Great. Another night with her drunk Daddy.

"Daddy, I want music lessons."


	2. I'm An Excellent Paddler

After a shower, Elle paces her room. She has trouble deciding between a light blue tank top and white shorts or a coral colored sundress. She picks the dress, thinking maybe she'll change her outfit later. No sense in not wearing both when you can't decide, right?

Elle forgoes breakfast- something she never does, and heads straight to the main building she later learns is called the Playhouse. She puts her name on the sign up sheet for guitar lessons and learns the first lesson of the day is less than an hour away.

She sits on the floor of what she assumes is the front of the class. The room has two chairs, but no desks or anything. She figures it doubles as a dance studio, since mirrors line most of the walls. When the other people begin to enter the room, Elle notices they have something she's sorely lacking: a guitar.

Fuck, she thinks. Who the hell shows up to guitar lessons sans guitar?

It's pretty much what the boy sitting down next to her asks as well. "Are you here for guitar lessons? I only ask because, well..." he shrugs and shows Elle his guitar.

Elle pouts. "Well, the brochure said this resort was all inclusive. I thought maybe they'd have guitars for people to learn on."

The kid is about to respond when the instructor walks in. It's the same guy from the other night. The "Wow" guy. He's so tall, but everyone seems tall to Elle. He hasn't shaved, but other than that, his appearance is pretty neat. His hair is combed into what her friend Adam calls a "faux hawk" and he's got a greenish dress shirt on with black dress pants and a black vest. On anyone else it would probably look silly, but "Wow" guy makes it work like it's his job.

Elle sneaks to the back of the room to watch the lesson. She isn't going to get much out of this without her own instrument. Such a shame too, she thinks. She watches the guitar player's large hands place people's fingers in the appropriate places on the frets and imagines him doing the same with her. She imagines him having very warm hands.

When the lesson is concluded, Elle wanders out of the playhouse to the lake. She's not much of a swimmer, but she likes to people watch. On such a hot day, most guests of the resort are at the lake, so it's the perfect spot to sit and just observe for a little while.

"Hey, Elle."

Or at least it is until Peter shows up. "Peter, hi." Elle says from her perch on the dock. She abandoned her shoes on the grass to dip her feet in the cool water. "What are you up to this morning?" she asks, though not particularly interested.

"Canoeing. Wanna come?" Peter asks. It seems he already planned on asking her or someone along. He's carrying two life vests on his way to the boathouse.

Elle shakes her head. "I'm really not a big water person."

"C'mon," Peter tries to convince her. "I'm an excellent paddler."

"I think I'll pass." Elle stands up, trying to walk past Peter to get off the dock.

"Well, I guess I can always ask Nate." Peter concedes, turning around to head toward the cabins. He doesn't seem to notice when one of the life vests roughly bumps into Elle, sending her into the water. Not until she's screaming, anyway.

"Peter!" Elle shouts, hands scrambling in the water to grab onto anything to keep herself above water. She's doing a terrible job. She tries to scream for him to help her, but she keeps sinking.

Peter only looks at Elle, both life vests clutched in his hands. He doesn't move until he sees a young man around his age drop a guitar case and dive into the water. "Hang on, Elle!"

Elle doesn't really hear him, her flailing only sending her further under the lake. When her torso is encircled, she reaches back and feels two arms holding her still. Great. What an undignified way to die, she thinks. She's pretty surprised when her head meets the surface of the water. She'd like to say something, but all she can do is throw up water and gasp for air.

"Grab her hands," Elle hears her rescuer say to Peter.

Peter wastes no time pulling Elle on to the dock by her hands. The man behind Elle shoves her up by her rear end. She'd make a comment about being appropriate, but she doesn't have the breath for that just yet. She decides on giving the guy a dirty look when she turns to face him.

"Are you alright?" It's the same guy from last night.

Elle can only nod.

Peter puts his arm around her. "I can take it from here." She doesn't notice the look Peter gives the other man, but she's fairly sure it's not a nice one.

"Thank you," Elle manages to choke out. She feels like dying when he smiles at her. She must look awful.

"Be more careful," the guy says before picking up his guitar case and heading off.

Once the guitar player is gone, Peter turns Elle to face him. "You sure you're okay? I'm a nurse, you know."

"Yeah, I think I'll be fine." Elle wrings her dress out on the dock. She decides not to mention that Peter froze up when she fell in, so a fat load of help he is. "I'll have to find that guy later to thank him."

"Well, make sure you don't go alone." Peter says.

What a weird thing to say. "Why?" Elle wonders.

"The night before you and your Dad came, someone here was murdered."

"Really?" Elle is instantly reminded of Daddy trying to get her away from a serial killer as a way to come here. She couldn't wait to rub Hawaii in his face. "Who was it?"

"One of the waitresses, I think I heard someone say." Peter tells her. "So be careful around the staff."

Elle nods, watching over Peter's shoulder as guitar player walks away. "I'll keep that in mind."


	3. Do You Know Blue Hawaii

In the evening, Elle sits between Peter and Daddy. She hasn't eaten all day, too busy thinking about her harrowing experience by the docks. While the dinner conversation drifts back and forth between Daddy and the Petrellis, Elle is more than happy to eat as much as possible. She's absolutely famished.

"Did you guys hear?" Nathan asks. He's the older Petrelli brother. From the way his parents act, he's also the more accomplished one, and easily the favorite. Elle supposes this is how favorite sons look and act. He's taller than Peter, neater in appearance than Peter, and even has better manners than Peter. It's easy to see why Mama likes him best. "Someone died the other night."

Daddy almost spills his beer. "What!?" Elle tries not to laugh. Oh, Daddy.

"Someone was found dead the night before you and little Elle arrived." Angela explains. She sets her wine glass down for the first time all evening.

Peter looks to his mother. "Yeah, a waitress."

"From what?" Daddy asks.

"She was stabbed. Terrible tragedy. Such a pretty girl, too." Mr. Petrelli punctuates his statement with a look to his wife, who only rolls her eyes.

"I'm so glad I had two handsome boys." Angela says, placing a palm on each cheek of her sons. "Killers always seem to target women these days." She turns her attentions to Elle for a moment, adoring smile gone. "If I were you, I'd be careful, dear. I know that there was a serial killer in the city, but it's still wise to keep safe out here."

"My Elle-Belle is a smart girl." Daddy says. He sloppily runs his hand over the top of Elle's head. "She can take care of herself."

Elle thinks: _You didn't think so two nights ago when you forced me up here_. All her thoughts of resentment fly out the window when she sees the guitar player and his band setting up on the stage, however.

Nathan seems to want to stay on subject. "So the waitress? They found her here in the playhouse with her throat slit, but management's not saying much about it."

"Nathan," Angela tries to interrupt.

"They don't wanna scare the guests." He theorizes. "They just want to keep our money in the resort. You know, I hear this might be the last year for this place. If it were me and I found a dead body-"

"Nathan, please! We're _eating_." Angela manages, giving her son the Look mothers give when they've had enough.

"Sorry, Ma." Nathan apologizes with a million dollar smile. Angela is instantly placated.

"So." Arthur says before clearing his throat. "Aside from people getting killed, how are you two enjoying yourselves?"

"I'm having a good time, Mr. Petrelli." Elle says. She's not exactly lying, just not telling the entire truth. Doesn't mention most of the reason she's enjoying herself is that she's chasing a boy.

Daddy nods. "Elle's even taken up with music lessons- something I've been bothering her to do for years."

Nathan suddenly seems interested. "Oh? What instrument?"

"Guitar, actually." Elle feels a little silly. She tries not to look at the stage where the same band from last night is playing.

"Cool, I play a little myself." Nathan tells her. He's awfully intense about the whole thing. It's then that Elle decides he has very pretty green eyes.

"I've decided to take music lessons, too." Peter says, glaring at his brother.

Angela arches an eyebrow. "That's... great, Peter."

"I thought you hated music lessons, son." Arthur says to his youngest.

"We tried so hard with you for piano, but you kept saying how... ohh Arthur, what word did he use?" Angela asks.

Arthur takes a moment to remember. "Lame, I think."

Peter folds his arms and scowls at his parents. "Look, I can change my mind whenever I want to."

"Of course you can, dear." Angela says, patting her emotional son's hand.

Daddy stretches, full of steak and beer. He always gets sleepy after a meal. "Well, I'm going to go retire for the evening. See you all at breakfast."

Elle watches her father stand up. She kisses his cheek when he bends over. "I'll stay and listen for a little while. Goodnight, Daddy."

As the evening progresses, the Petrellis depart from the table, one at a time. First Angela retires, then Nathan. Arthur leaves after dessert, leaving Elle with Peter.

"So, what's keeping you hanging around?" Peter asks, picking at his cake. He's cleverly eaten his way around the frosting, Elle notes.

"I wanted to thank that guy for saving me this afternoon." Elle says, nodding at the guitar player on stage. Her face colors slightly when his eyes meet hers. She's ready to die when the band starts playing an Elvis song.

"Are you serious?" Is all Peter can say. "That guy?"

Elle shrugs. "He's very nice. Plus this is the best version of _Suspicious Minds_ I've heard."

Peter rolls his eyes. "The guy is a total nerd. All he can play is Oldies! I mean, look at his outfit. A vest?"

"So what if he's a little dorky. He still saved my life." Elle reasons. As the music stops, she tells Peter "I'm gonna go talk to him." She maneuvers through the other guests until she's made it to the buffet table by the stage.

The guitar player is helping himself to a large piece of pie when Elle sneaks up on him. It takes him a moment to say anything. "You feeling any better?"

Elle nods. "I want to thank you for earlier. I probably would have died."

He shakes his head. "Think nothing of it. I do that kind of thing all the time."

Elle tilts her head, confused.

"A joke." He explains.

"Oh," Elle says. "Of course it was. I was just..." Feeling incredibly stupid, she decides to change the subject. "Didn't think you could sing... especially not like Elvis. Do you know _Blue Hawaii_?"

He begins to eat the pie right at the buffet table. When he starts to walk back toward the stage, Elle follows him. "Isn't that music more up your parents' alley?"

"Do you know it or not?"

"Nope." He answers. He continues with his pie like he'll die if he doesn't have any in his mouth.

Elle pouts a little. It's her favorite song. "I thought you were this great guitar player... can't you learn it?"

He seems to consider this. "Maybe." He sets the now finished pie down and climbs onto the stage. "Since I'd be doing you a favor, what will you do for me?" He's bent over with his face not even inches from hers.

Elle has to struggle to find her words. "I'm not... well-"

"Tell you what:" He says quietly. "I'll do Blue Hawaii for you if I can tell you something. But you have to promise to keep it quiet."

"What? Like a secret?" Elle wonders.

"If you wanna think of it that way, sure. Just meet me out back after the last song. Got it?"

Like she'd consider refusing. "Got it."

After a small encore, the guy Elle's been stalking closes the show with _Blue Hawaii_. Elle stares daggers at him the entire time, but he seems unaffected. When the show is over, she follows him out the service exit of the building.

"You already knew it!" Elle accuses, stomping after him.

"I must've confused song titles or something..." He says, clearly lying and thoroughly entertained.

"Why'd you lie?" She asks the back of his head, grabbing his hand to get him to turn around and face her.

The tall man grabs both of Elle's hands and backs her against a tree. "To get you to come out here." While he uses one of his large hands to pin both of Elle's tiny ones together, he uses his free one to brush her hair away from her face. "What's your name, kid?"

For a second, she forgets. "E-Elle."

"Like the letter, huh? That short for anything?"

Elle shakes her head. "No. Just 'Elle'."

He lets go of her hands, but doesn't move away. "Nice to meet you, Elle. I'm Gabriel."

Unbound, Elle feels a bit more comfortable. She teases him a little bit. "Like the angel, huh?" She pretends to look for a halo over Gabriel's head.

He smirks a little. "Not exactly."

Elle's pretty sure she's blushing. "Well. Gabriel. What's this thing you want to tell me?"

He looks over her shoulder for a moment, back to the building. Before she can ask him anything else, his mouth is on hers. It's not her first kiss, not at all, but it feels far different than anything else she'd ever done with any boy. Before she's able to pull herself to reality and respond to him, Gabriel pulls away. "I'll tell you later" is all he says before leaving her there, still backed against the tree.

She watches him walk off into the night to where she assumes the staff living area is before heading back into the dining hall. Elle pretends not to see Peter when she walks inside. She doesn't want to deal with his questions. Not right now. All she wants to do is go to her cabin and dream of Gabriel.


	4. I Promise

Elle lays back and sighs. She kicks her shoes off and revels in the feeling of the grass under her bare toes. It's still not Hawaii, but when she closes her eyes and feels the sun soak into her body, it's almost as good.

"You're gonna burn, kid." Gabriel's deep voice rumbles, making Elle open her eyes.

He's standing over her in ridiculously low swimming trunks. He's kinda hairy, which would normally be a turn-off for Elle, but on him she rather likes it. Finds it manly. She lowers her huge Jackie O-style sunglasses. Her friend Sarah calls them 'stunna shades'. "Excuse me, but you're in my sun."

When he lies beside her on the blanket, she hands him the sunscreen. "If you're so worried about me burning, then you're more than welcome to put some on me." She rolls onto her stomach and pulls her hair away from her back.

His thick eyebrows raise at the invitation, but he doesn't hesitate. Gabriel manages to get Elle's legs covered, then her arms. When he gets to her shoulders, he helps himself to untying her bikini top. She doesn't object, instead pulls the top from her body. She tosses it to the side and sits up, facing Gabriel.

He rolls on top of her, covering her smaller body with his. Gabriel grinds himself against Elle, letting her know exactly what effect she's having on him. He breathes her name against her ear, making her shiver and clutch at his shoulders. He unties one side of her bikini bottom, then the other before moving the thing aside. Elle can only manage to sigh when his thumb rubs her most sensitive spot.

"Oh God, Gabriel..." She mewls, arching into his hands. "Please don't stop."

"I have to." He says, apologetically. He pulls away and suddenly it's night.

She's by the tree, fully clothed. She's been waiting for him for hours. When Elle moves from the tree, she can see Gabriel approaching. He's covered in blood, telling her to run.

She runs to her Daddy's cabin to alert him that there's trouble and Jesus Christ, he needs to _do_ something. Daddy just sits, watching the water. No matter how many times she screams for her Daddy, he doesn't bother acknowledging her. She punches his shoulder, hard. When his head rolls off his shoulders, Elle screams.

Elle sits up in her bed, screaming. She doesn't see Daddy rush across the lawn from his cabin to hers. She doesn't see Daddy bust the door in, doesn't see Daddy kneel by her bed and try to shake her out of it. Sees nothing until Daddy slaps her.

"Elle?" Daddy says. He looks like he feels guilty for hitting her.

Elle can only curl herself around her Daddy and cry. She hasn't had a nightmare like this since her mother died. She tells Daddy what happened in her dream (well, not _all_ of it) and explains that she's just a little scared with the serial killer about and the fact that someone died the night before they arrived.

Daddy tells her not to be silly, disentangles Elle from his round body and tells her to get some sleep. Elle sighs and wipes her own tears away. She bids her Daddy goodnight and watches through her window as Daddy goes back inside his cabin to go back to sleep.

She tries the same, herself. Elle lies back down and closes her eyes tight, but every time she does all she can see is her dead Daddy. She'd rub Hawaii in his face if she wasn't so scared. She tries to rationalize. It can't be the same serial killer from the city, can it? Why would a serial killer come to stupid Killermann's of all places? Elle takes a moment to appreciate the irony of a killer stalking a place with "Kill" in its name.

Elle hates being in bed in the dark with all her jumbled thoughts. It's hard to feel so many conflicting things at once, so she decides to climb out of bed and sit on her cabin's steps for a few minutes. She hopes the cool night air will clear her head a little, keep her from thinking scary things. She sits down on the wooden steps in her nightgown, forgoing shoes or a robe, and takes a deep breath to calm down.

When Elle hears a scraping noise come from inside, she shoots to her feet. She edges back to the door of the cabin, unable to see much of anything in the dark room. She lets her face get close to the screen before she hears something fall over, coming from her bedroom.

She doesn't let herself scream, covers her mouth with both of her hands. She backs away from the door slowly, heading back for the steps. Elle almost makes it onto the grass before the final step creaks. She doesn't think she's ever heard a louder wooden step than this one, but doesn't bother dwelling on it. Elle runs instead.

The grass is wet and slippery under Elle's feet. She makes it a little further past the playhouse before she slows down a little. Her feet are soaked and filthy. Small rocks are stuck to the heels of her feet. Her chest hurts while she tries to catch her breath. She's never run so fast in her life, she's sure.

Elle's not sure what to do next. All she knows is she is absolutely inot/i sleeping in her own bed tonight. If she can sleep at all. She wishes she could remember which set of cabins the Petrellis were staying in. Peter probably wouldn't be much of a help since he froze when she nearly drowned. Elle found Nathan to be charming and certainly handsome, but could he protect her?

She's ripped from her thoughts when a large hand forcefully grabs her wrist.

"What are you doing out here?"

Elle starts to scream, but finds her mouth covered quickly. Her attacker spins her body around. When she faces him, she relaxes- though only a little. Where the fuck did he come from?

Gabriel looks around for a moment before asking Elle "If I take my hand away, will you scream?"

Elle shakes her head 'no' in response.

Gabriel nods and removes his hand from Elle's mouth. "What are you doing out here? It's two in the morning," he shows her his watch.

Elle crosses her arms against her chest. She wishes she'd brought a robe outside with herself. She had no idea summer nights could be this chilly. _Fucking Global Warming._ "I had a pretty bad nightmare. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I thought a walk would help…" She chooses not to mention to Gabriel that it sounded like someone had broken into her cabin when she was outside it.

He looks at her like he knows she's not being truthful. "It's a bad idea to be out alone at night. Especially since that girl was killed here." He slides an arm around Elle's waist, directs her back to the guest cabins. "Let me walk you back-"

"No!" Elle nearly jumps away at the suggestion. When she sees Gabriel's confused reaction, she says "I doubt I'd get any sleep. I'm too wound up."

Gabriel is thoughtfully quiet for a moment. "I'll be up for a little while yet, if you'd like to come with me back to my cabin."

Elle considers it. "What were _you_ doing out here?"

"I just got back from playing a gig in town." Gabriel points to his guitar case on the ground by his feet. "I don't _just_ play here, you know."

_Duh_, Elle thinks, mentally scolding herself. She finally notices the car keys still hanging out of his pocket as well. "Ohh."

Gabriel nods. "Yeah." He picks the guitar case up and tilts his head to the side, indicating he's leaving. "You coming?"

Elle follows Gabriel across the grounds to the staff quarters. It's not as nicely kept as the rest of the property, but it doesn't really bother her. Gabriel leads her to his cabin, one like her Daddy's, but with chipping paint and missing rails on the porch. She tries not to laugh when Gabriel has to force the door open with his foot after unlocking it. The summer humidity must make these old wooden places swell pretty badly.

"Door works better when I kick it," Gabriel explains. He lets Elle in the door before following her in.

Elle laughs a little, noting the _Star Wars_ reference. Peter's right. This guy's a total nerd, but at least he's a gentleman. She looks around the small cabin. It's not much. There's a bed, a mini-fridge and tons of books in the sleeping area. A record player and a stack of records rest on the bedside table. Two chairs sit by the back entrance- an empty one, and one with a second guitar on it. A table in the dining area is full of watches and random watch parts. The stove looks antique and barely used.

"So earlier you said you had something to tell me," Elle makes conversation. She picks up one of the books. _Cat Stories_? Weird.

Gabriel kicks his shoes off and bends over the mini-fridge. He pulls out two beers, puts one back when Elle shakes her head. "I remember saying that, yes." He sits on the bed and watches Elle thumb through the book he grabbed from a yard sale on a whim.

She looks up from the book and sits beside him on the bed. "You said you'd tell me what it was 'later'." She closes the book and puts on her best 'Give me my way, Daddy' face. "Is it later yet?"

Gabriel seems entertained by Elle's faux naiveté. "Almost." He puts a record on and sips at his beer. "Tell me about your nightmare."

Elle chooses not to tell Gabriel about the whole naked, making out thing. "Well, it got scary when I was at the tree we were standing by earlier." She sees him nod, urging her to go on. "I was waiting for something. You came running at me, covered in blood, saying I needed to run."

Gabriel tosses the empty beer bottle into the recycling bin, nods again. "What came next?"

Elle hesitates for a moment, but continues when one of Gabriel's hands covers hers. "I ran to Daddy's." Elle hates it when her voice cracks. She really doesn't want to cry in front of Gabriel. Her face gets all red and puffy and her nose doesn't stop running. She pauses a lot instead. Anything not to cry. "I kept screaming at him to do something. But he just sat there. I-I hit him then, and his head-"

Gabriel pulls Elle against his side. He strokes her hair, rubs her neck. "You can stop if you want to."

She does. She's quiet for a few minutes before confiding in Gabriel. "It felt so real."

"But it wasn't." He tells her.

She stares up at him. It's quiet in the small room, but not uncomfortably so. "Are you?" she asks, breaking the silence. She reaches a hand up and gently touches Gabriel's cheek. She moves her thumb across his bottom lip. "Real, I mean."

Gabriel's haunting eyes close for a second as he takes a deep breath. He's trying to control himself, Elle notices. "I promise," he tells her as his eyes open. He bends his head slightly to kiss her, surprised when Elle deepens it. He hesitates when Elle pulls him on top of her body, but only for a second.

"Please," is all she asks. It's all Gabriel needs to hear.


	5. I Don't Ever Do This

Elle is immensely thankful Gabriel's not very shy. Her nightgown comes off, then her panties. Gabriel tears off his clothes as well, rejoins Elle on the bed. After getting a good look at him, Elle decides this is better than what she'd imagined earlier in the evening.

He gets half on top of Elle, positions one of his legs under hers. Bends her knee and keeps it there while he teases and rubs her with his fingers. Once Elle is prepared, Gabriel wastes no time. He positions himself and enters her slowly. Elle can barely stand the pressure. She hooks her legs around Gabriel's waist and forces him the rest of the way in. When his eyes squeeze shut, Elle bites back a smirk.

She tries to buck her hips against his, but Gabriel's body holds Elle's still. He waits a minute before thrusting slightly forward, rewarding Elle's g-spot with some pressure. Elle's fingernails leave little half-moon imprints on the back of Gabriel's shoulders. Encouraged, Gabriel repeats his motions. Elle gasps and tosses her head back, inviting Gabriel to bury his face in her neck.

Gabriel grabs Elle's hips and grinds them into his. When the bottom half of her body is off the bed, Elle reaches for the headboard to steady herself. The need for release rapidly building inside her, Elle pushes back on the headboard, then pulls. Gabriel can only voice his appreciation for the added friction by growling low in his throat; all coherent thought completely gone. It's not long after that Elle's body spasms and she lets out a soft, drawn out whine. Once Elle is sated, Gabriel doesn't hesitate to follow suit, speeding his thrusts to meet her in the afterglow.

Sweaty and sated, Gabriel collapses over Elle's chest. He's still inside her, his body twitching every now and then. Elle decides this is how she likes him best: sighing and heavy and reeking of sex. She wishes for him to never pull himself out, feels like she'll be missing something. She tries to trap him there instead.

"Just so you know," she says. "I don't ever do this."

Gabriel mock-scoffs at her into her sweaty neck. Her hair sticks to the side of his face. "Right." He pulls out and lies next to her, on his side. He notes the disappointed face she makes and pecks her cheek.

She continues to pout. "I mean it, I don't want you to think I'm some easy hussy."

"I pegged you more for an attention starved Daddy's Girl with a thing for comfort sex," he teases while draping an arm and a leg over her small body.

Elle can't help but laugh. Short and loud, her laughter fills the small cabin, echoes off the walls. "Well, I tricked you. I actually just have a fetish for really hairy guys." She tries not to laugh more, but it's near impossible. "I saw all that chest hair creeping up your neck through your shirt and," she guffaws, but continues. "I just had to have you. This was the final part of my plan."

Gabriel laughs quietly, mostly with his mouth closed. It's far more restrained, more subtle than Elle's wicked witch cackle. He puts his wrists together and presents them to Elle. "Consider me in your clutches." Elle burrows her head between Gabriel's arms and rest her head on his chest. She sighs, content.

They doze off together while Gabriel's record player keeps the quiet away. As a record ends, Gabriel gets up and puts a new one on; waking Elle each time he leaves the bed. When the B Side of Dick Dale's _Surfer's Choice_ ends, Elle sits up with Gabriel.

"Oh God, the sun's coming up." Elle notes with a sigh.

Gabriel frowns as he gets back in the bed. "Do you need to go?"

"For a while, at least." Elle says. "I need to shower-"

"I have a shower." He tries to sell her into staying.

"-and brush my teeth, eat-" Elle continues, counting her to-do list off on her fingers.

"Can I see you later?" Gabriel concedes. He pushes her hair off her shoulder and buries his nose behind her ear.

"Of course." Elle sighs, rather than says. Gabriel is making it difficult to get out of the bed. "What time's your first music lesson today?" She reaches to the floor and grabs her nightgown, puts it back on.

Gabriel watches Elle dress, stands and does the same. "Ten thirty." He walks over to the extra guitar sitting on the chair and hands it to Elle by the neck. "You might want this today."

"I'll be very careful with it." She runs her hands across the instrument and looks back at Gabriel in all his shirtless, bed-headed glory. "When I return it, you won't even know it left your place."

He smiles at her, glad she likes his present. "How about you keep it? I don't really need _two_ guitars."

Elle nods and lets him walk her to the door. She reaches up on the tips of her toes and steals a kiss from Gabriel before heading down the steps to the grass. "Ten thirty?" Elle asks.

Gabriel nods. "I'll be there at ten if you want to be early."

"Ten, then." Elle says, smiling as she turns around to beat the sun back to her cabin.

At 9:55, Elle walks into the music room with Gabriel's guitar strapped across her back. He's got his back to the doorway, so he doesn't notice she's gotten there until after she tugs on his hand. "Hey, you." She says, tightening her grip on his hand. Lets go when she feels something warm and wet in his hand.

"Sorry about that." Gabriel apologizes, gets a cloth and wipes what looks a lot like blood from Elle's hand.

Elle's eyes widen. "What… what happened?"

Gabriel shows Elle his hand. "I cut myself restringing a guitar. Happens a lot, really." A fresh-looking cut runs across his palm diagonally.

Elle pouts and wraps Gabriel's hand in the cloth. "Be more careful."

Their moment is cut short when students begin to file in. Elle sits in the front of the class, eager for all of Gabriel's attention. She's mildly irritated when she sees Peter come in. He carries with him, a battered old acoustic with "NATE RULZ!!" scribbled across it in thick, black marker. He sits very close to Elle, making sure Gabriel notices.

After the lesson, Elle mouths 'later' at Gabriel before heading out the door. Peter isn't far behind her.

"Nice guitar. Where'd you get that?" Peter asks Elle, catching up with her.

"I borrowed it." Elle says. "Gabriel lent me it."

Peter looks from the guitar to Elle. "When'd he give you that?"

"Before class. I didn't have one of my own. He lent me one of his."

"For the whole summer?" Peter asks.

Elle's narrows her eyes. "Not that it's any of your business, but yes. What's you deal, anyway? All week you've been a real ass to me. At first you were all stand-offish, and now you want to know every detail of my life. What the Hell is your problem, Petrelli?"

"Look, I'm just worried about you. With the murder a few nights ago, no suspects have been fingered yet. It could have been anyone, Elle." He looks purposefully at the music room's windows.

"Are you suggesting that Gabriel did it?" Elle asks. Peter is beginning to get on her nerves. How dare he suggest such a thing?

"Don't tell me you haven't thought so, too."

Elle thinks about it for a moment. She was initially apprehensive of following Gabriel back to his cabin after hers was broken into. And he had blood on his hands this morning. But that's all circumstantial. "Like you said, it could have been _anyone_. Why accuse him?"

"Because," Peter says quietly. "The night that girl was murdered, he was the only staff member unaccounted for."

Elle can't give Peter an argument for this one. She walks away instead.

"Go ahead, Elle." Peter says. "You'll wish you listened to me."

She stops and turns around to shout at Peter, but she's cut off when an announcement is made over the PA system alerting everyone on site to retire to the cabins. There's been an incident. Elle can see Gabriel leave the playhouse over Peter's head. Two men in suits are talking to him. One points to his bloodied hand. Their eyes meet for a second before the two men usher him away to talk to him in private.

Elle heads back to her cabin, Peter following her silently. She hopes he doesn't make any mention of the state of her room. When she returned from Gabriel's that morning, she had a chance to take in the damage was definitely broken into. Her window had been shattered. The bed was messed. The room had been rummaged through- specifically the closet and adjoining bathroom. Someone had broken in here looking for something. For her.

She did an okay cleaning up, she thought. She left the bed messed, best to make it look like she had actually been there last night. She hated to imagine what Daddy would do if he found out. She picked up the bathroom and managed to stuff the rest of the mess into the closet. If no one opened it, they'd have no clue how messy things ha been.

Peter surveys Elle's room with a critical eye. "Jeez, you're a slob."

Elle sets the guitar on the bed, folds her arms across her chest. "Hey! I'll have you know that it's none of your business how I keep my room. No boys are supposed to be in here, anyway. You should probably leave."

"Aren't we supposed to be staying put?" Peter argues.

"Yeah, but-"

A knock at the door breaks her off. When she opens it, she sees the same two men that had talked to Gabriel. One's a very tall black man. He looks pretty formidable. Probably the muscle of the partnership, she bets. The other is a shorter white guy, probably in his forties. He's wearing glasses and a suit, but he looks pretty damn dangerous himself.

"Detective Noah Bennet." Glasses says, presents his badge. "I'm here to investigate some murders."

Elle cocks her head to the side. "_Some?_"

"One a few nights ago." Glasses tells her while the big guy behind him hands her a picture of the waitress. It's a shame. She was so cute. Probably a really nice girl, too. "And one last night." Elle is handed a photo of a young man with dark eyes and long greasy hair. "Both were employees here. You two know anything about either of them?"

Elle shakes her head. "I didn't check in here until after the first murder. I haven't ever even seen this guy around here." She holds up the photo of the long-haired guy.

"He was a painting instructor. Ran some art activities here." Detective Bennet tells her. "How about your boyfriend here?" He nods at Peter. Elle makes a face, wants to deny Peter's being her boyfriend. "You seen either of these two? Or heard of anyone who had any grudges against them?"

Peter eyes the pictures before answering the detective. "No sir, I haven't."

The bespectacled detective hands Elle his card. "If you hear anything, even if it seems trivial, call this number. Both of you be careful." He leaves with his silent partner to head over to Daddy's cabin and ask him the same thing.

Elle sinks onto her bed. She feels sick. "Another murder? Shit..." After what happened to her last night, she can only surmise that she could have been the murder victim the detectives are asking about this morning. Gabriel saved her life twice, in a way.

"I told you!" Peter gloats. "Another staff member dead. It's got to be some kinda work-related grudge or something. That detective even said so himself."

Elle shrugs. "I guess so." She can't help but remember that no matter what went on last night, Gabriel still had no alibi for the first murder.

"This is why I told you to watch it around that guitar guy." Peter says. "Hell, I wouldn't even be surprised if he got hauled away for questioning. Probably has no alibi for this murder either."

Elle doesn't share with Peter that Gabriel actually _does_ have an alibi for last night. "Why are you so sure it's him? How do you know it isn't that kid lifeguard or the doctor here, or even a _guest_?"

"He doesn't get along with anyone here. He's too weird. Always has been." Peter paces the tiny room, hands shoved in his pockets. "He's probably killed before this. I bet he's the killer from the city."

Elle rolls her eyes and gets on her feet. "Ohh, come ON, Peter! Aren't you over reacting just a little bit?"

"Maybe you're _under_ reacting." Peter argues. "Just because a guy is nice to you and stares deep into your eyes and plays you your favorite song, it doesn't mean he won't try to kill you."

"You know what? I've had enough." Elle grabs the shoddy wooden chair from the corner of the room and shoves it at Peter, creating more distance between them. "Get out of here! I don't want you in here another second." She grabs the lamp and wants to throw it at him, hopes he electrocutes. "I don't want to talk to you for the rest of the time I'm here, either. I'll tolerate your presence at dinner, but _only_ because our parents are friends. Other than that, as far as I'm concerned, you can go fuck yourself." She sets the lamp roughly on the bedside table.

"Don't say I didn't try to warn you, Elle!" Peter shouts, heading out of the cabin.

She kicks the door and tries to think of a way to get her cabin switched. She refuses to sleep here another night.


	6. I Have No Alibi

It's not worth sitting across Peter's stupid face to eat dinner tonight, Elle decides. Instead, she sneaks off to Gabriel's cabin. Everything Peter said earlier bothered Elle a little bit, she hated to admit. She needs to make sure none of its true. If she can't find anything at Gabriel's to make it seem like he's a killer, she'll feel more comfortable. The perfect time to accomplish this is while he's busy entertaining the guests during dinner.

Elle lifts the screen on the door and flicks the lock on the latch of the door up. When she pulls and the door doesn't give, she remembers that she needs to kick it to loosen the frame. Once inside, she takes a look around the place. It's been left in the same state as when Elle left it, though with the exception that Gabriel didn't clean up after himself when he was done eating.

She begins with the book collection. That detective said the killer took some books, right? It would be a bigger help if she knew the titles, though. How could she find evidence that she didn't even know she was supposed to be looking for?

After eyeing Gabriel's record collection and not finding anything damning, Elle begins to open his bedside table. Maybe he's hiding mementos in there. Detective Bennet mentioned jewelry, too. Since Gabriel didn't wear any, that had to mean if she found some it was from a body, didn't it?

Elle immediately feels guilty when nothing suspicious comes up. All she manages to find are old surf records, watch repair books, and lots of photos of Gabriel with his mother. She's mad at herself for not trusting him, but glad she found nothing incriminating.

"What are you looking for, Elle?" Gabriel's deep voice startles Elle to the point of jumping.

Elle whirls around to face Gabriel, pictures still in her hand. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Gabriel folds his arms. "Why are you looking through my things while I'm not here?"

Elle puts the photos down on the table and steps away from them, like not being close to them will spare her any further trouble. "I guess I just wanted to know more about you." She looks down at a picture of Gabriel and who she assumes is his mother, though they don't look much alike. "This you and your mother?"

"If you can call her that." He says, sitting on the bed. "Did the detectives talk to you today?"

Elle nods. "Yeah. They told me someone else was killed last night."

Gabriel sighs. "My buddy Isaac."

"You knew him?" Elle asks.

"Yeah, he'd make the band fliers for shows and stuff." He shows Elle an older flier for a show Gabriel's band had played last month. "He had a little drug problem, but other than that he was a good guy."

"Did... did you know the girl? Who was murdered?" Elle asks, though she's sure she knows he does.

"Sure. Everyone knew Charlie. Nice girl." He takes his guitar out of its case and begins to tune it. He's being a little cold tonight. He must be mad she was snooping, she guesses. She can't blame him. She'd be mad, too. "What did that Petrelli kid want?"

"Peter? He's just being a pain, really." Elle says with a shrug. "I guess he keeps bugging me because he's got nothing better to do."

Gabriel laughs his quiet laugh. "I think he likes you." He plays a few notes on the guitar, shakes his head, plays them again.

Elle rolls her eyes. "Spare me. He's so annoying." She's getting irritated just thinking about Peter. "He follows me around, keeps trying to tell me things I don't believe. And he's forever saying "I told you so". Ugh, he pisses me off, quite honestly."

Gabriel stops strumming the guitar. "Things you don't believe? Like what?"

Elle hesitates at first. "He- he keeps trying to pin the murders on you."

"Really." He says, setting the guitar in its case.

"He told me you didn't have an alibi the night Chrissie-"

"Charlie." Gabriel corrects her, standing up.

"Charlie was murdered." Elle slowly backs toward the door.

"That's true." He says, advancing on Elle. "I was here. Alone. Listening to music and reading." He backs her against a wall, nowhere to run. "I have no alibi."

Elle struggles to keep her breath even. "What did you tell the detectives about last night?"

"The truth." Gabriel tells her, tucking some of Elle's hair behind her ear. "I played a show in town, came home, met up with you, and we stayed here for the rest of the night. Remember?" He moves in to kiss her.

Elle shoves him away. "You told the cops you were with me? What if they tell my Daddy?"

Gabriel shakes his head and stalks back over to his bed. He sits on it hard, causing the box spring to slam against the rickety wooden floor. "Oh, come on, Elle. You're twenty years old, for Christ's Sake. If you're still living in fear of what Daddy thinks, maybe I'm doing something stupid by getting involved with you."

Elle is speechless for a moment. "...Are you dumping me?"

"We were never really together, were we?" Gabriel's words feel like a knife in her side.

"What are you talking about?"

"It's pretty obvious to me that this was never real. You were just playing with me. Like everyone else." He looks disgusted with her.

"How can you think that?" Elle asks.

"You snuck here last night, hoping not to get caught. You did it again, tonight. Why can't you just meet me out in the open? Are you ashamed of me? Or scared your Daddy won't like knowing his little girl is fucking the help?" Gabriel asks, getting louder every time he speaks.

"That's not true. Gabriel, I just think-"

Gabriel waves his arm dismissively at her. "Go think somewhere else. Somewhere that would be okay with your Daddy. Maybe Peter's."

Elle shakes her head. "I don't want-"

"Well, sometimes you don't get what you want, Elle. No matter _how_ rich your Daddy is."

Elle looks at him as her eyes start to tear up. "No. I guess not." she moves to the door, opens it and looks back at Gabriel. "I'm sorry."

"Me too." He answers, pretends not to watch her leave.

Elle storms off to the main office in the playhouse and manages to find the resort manager's office. She plays the part of being a spoiled rich girl and demands she get a better cabin than one with broken windows. The manager is quick to reassign Elle to a cabin closer to the lake, all the while apologizing profusely.

She secretly wants Daddy there, so he could see how she could be authoritative, too. Maybe then he'd let her in on more of the goings-on at the paper company. Elle wants to be involved in the family business, not just the boss's daughter. If this was what it felt like to yell at people all day, she didn't understand why Daddy wasn't a happier person. Elle loves it.

While venting out her frustrations over Gabriel in the form of yelling at the resort manager helps her to feel a little better, Elle was still a little upset over the whole thing. She really likes Gabriel. He isn't as stuffy and boring as the boys Daddy made her go on dates with. "Men of potential", he calls them. Elle was never amused. Maybe Daddy would see that if he met Gabriel. He'd see Gabriel as an intelligent person with just as much worth as anyone else. He'd see how Elle adores him... even if they are kinda fighting right now.

Elle decides that in order to smooth things over with Gabriel, she needs to introduce him to her father. She makes the short trip back to her father's cabin, stopping at her old one along the way. Elle peers in through the broken window to find it in the same state it was in when she left it. So much for that returning to the scene of the crime cliché.

She gets to her Daddy's cabin and knocks on the door. She tries to think of ways to tell her father she's got someone for him to meet, why she had her cabin changed, how she hates Peter. When she receives no answer, she figures that Daddy must have went to dinner already. Elle waits until the sun comes down before heading back to her own cabin. She doesn't want to be alone in the dark again. She'll see Daddy at breakfast anyway.

Once she's made it to her cabin, Elle begins getting ready for bed. She looks out her window while brushing her hair and notices Gabriel outside the playhouse, talking to Peter. She can't hear anything, but given his body language, he doesn't look very happy. When Peter says something back to Gabriel, Elle freezes while Gabriel lunges at Peter. He could have ripped his skull open, had Nathan not been there to hold him back.

Elle watches Gabriel shove Nathan off of himself, then point to Peter. Whatever he says while doing this causes Nathan's jaw to drop, staring at his brother. She sees Gabriel storm off toward the staff cabin area, looking in Elle's direction when he feels eyes on him. He sees her in the window; aware she's probably seen the entire thing. She smiles weakly and waves to him, but he looks away.

Elle sinks to her bed and sighs. Her feelings are hurt and she wants to make it right with Gabriel. She lies down determined to go see him tomorrow and bring him by, introduce him to her father. She falls asleep soon after, hoping that Daddy will hear her out in the morning.

Elle is ripped from sleep early the next morning by loud urgent knocking on her door. She stumbles out of bed and opens to door to see the detective with the horn-rimmed glasses again. She turns some lights on and invites him in after putting a robe on.

"Would you like some tea, detective?" Elle offers, making some for herself.

"No thanks." He says. "I'll just get right to it. We found a body late last night."

Elle sinks onto the bed. "Another body?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so." The detective pulls out his little clue notebook and a pen. "Can you tell me where you saw your father last?"

Elle nods. "Of course. I last saw him before dinner. I told him I wasn't feeling well, so I went here instead."

"Here?" Bennet writes something down.

Elle thinks for a moment. "Actually no, first I went to the resort manager's office and had my cabin changed. Then I came here."

He writes some more, the reflection of the pen across paper gleaming on his glasses. "Why'd you have your cabin changed?"

Elle stalls for a minute, uses that moment to pull her hair up into a ponytail. She thinks quickly as she does so. "I was in a high traffic area on the grounds. I came back to it after a music lesson and discovered a broken window. So I asked to have my cabin switched to a more secluded one."

Glasses continues to write. "So you saw your father before you went to the manager's office?"

Elle nods.

The detective looks suspicious. It looks so rehearsed, Elle wonders if he practices that look in the mirror. "Did you do anything else that day?"

"Well, I..." Elle looks at the floor. "I visited someone."

"Who did you visit?" Bennet asks.

"One of the staff here. Gabriel. He teaches guitar."

The detective nods. "And what times were you at Gabriel's?" He readies his pen.

"Well, it was before dinner, so from 4:30 until at least 5 or so. I didn't stay long." She doesn't add that they had a fight. Or that she was snooping through his things.

"Any other changes you'd like to make to your story?" Bennet asks wryly.

Elle doesn't find him funny. "No, sir. That's the entire thing."

"Can this Gabriel back your story up?" He asks.

Elle nods. "He can." Wait, why is she being asked about a murder? When she saw her father last? "I'm sorry, detective, but what does all this have to do with my Daddy?"

"It's best you just come with me." Bennet leads her out of her cabin.

The grounds are still fairly dark, with the sun just barely coming up. All of the buildings have their lights off, aside from the light up in the resort manager's office and a cabin a ways across from Elle's. The detective walks with Elle all the way to her father's cabin.

Elle already knows what's happened before she steps inside. "I don't want to see the body. Please." She feels her heart sink into her stomach, her knees follow suit and she collapses onto the stairs. Daddy's gone.

"The body was taken away by the coroner after we finished investigating the scene. I just need you to tell me if anything is missing in his room." Detective Bennet tells her. "Anything at all."

"Why?" Elle asks, looking up at him with red, tear-filled eyes. "I'm pretty sure it's clear he was murdered."

The detective crouched so he was face to face with Elle. "I think the killings here and the killings in the city are connected." He tells her quietly. "This killer has been taking a memento of each person he's killed so far. It's usually something that the person held dear to them; a piece of jewelry, a book, things like that." He pauses, hands Elle his handkerchief. "If you can point out anything in your father's room that's missing, I'll know we're dealing with the same person."

Elle nods. "Okay." She stands up, assisted by Bennet. When she gets into her father's cabin, she tries to ignore the bloodstains on the walls and floor. Its clear Daddy put up a fight- the place is a wreck. She'd be lucky if she could find anything missing with the room in this state. Elle turns and faces the detective. She shakes her head. "I really can't tell. I'm sorry."

Bennet places his hand on her shoulder and shakes his head as well. "It was a shot in the dark. Thank you anyway, Elle."

She stays on the steps while the detectives all clear out, until the sun comes up. Elle watches the breakfast crowd flock to the playhouse's dining room, stays put until all the guests have entered. Too depressed to eat, she goes back to her new cabin and showers. Elle tries washing away the horrible week she's endured, but in the mirror she finds a small reminder Gabriel left on her neck with his mouth.

Elle quickly dresses herself in a white sundress and toes on some sandals. She doesn't bother with her hair (she can never do anything with it when it's wet). When she opens the door, she's more than surprised to see Gabriel coming up her stairs.

"I'm ready to tell you that secret now." He says.


	7. I Doubt Anywhere in This Resort is Safe

"I'm an under cover cop," Gabriel says, once he's inside Elle's cabin.

Elle's eyebrows disappear under her bangs. "I guess I can see why you wanted to wait to tell me." She offers Gabriel the only chair in the room, sits opposite him on the bed. She remembers the night he kissed her under the tree. Fake. Her heart sinks a little. "So you're not just a guitar playing Mama's Boy?"

Gabriel shakes his head, some hair falling over his forehead as he does so. "No. But I have been playing guitar here every summer for a few years," he explains. "I took last summer off to finish my degree early so I could work with Bennet on this case. When I heard he needed an inside man, I jumped at the chance." He looks like a kid for a moment. "He's kind of my idol."

Elle tries to bite back a smile at this. Bennet? _Really?_ "So do you have any leads?"

"I have one really strong one." He tells her. "But you need to play dumb and keep this quiet, okay?"

Elle's thrilled he's not going to keep anything else from her. "I will, I promise."

He's quiet for a moment, like he's debating if he should tell her or not. "We've been trailing Peter Petrelli for months."

Elle's jaw drops. "Peter!? Peter is annoying and kind of a jerk, but I don't think he's a killer." Peter? The whiny nurse? A killer? "What would his motive even be?"

"We're not sure yet." Gabriel confides. "Until I catch him in the act, or we find a motive, we can't arrest him without alerting him that we know he's been behind the killings." He looks frustrated, like it's been eating at him for a while. "He'd flee if he knew we were on to him. That night we met, I wanted to tell you about him." Gabriel looks at Elle with guilt. "I'm sorry I tricked you into kissing me. He was standing right there and I didn't want all my months of work to go blow up in my face. Bennet would kill me."

Elle shrugs, hides her hurt feelings. So it _was_ all fake, then? "Well, maybe I could help you."

"I don't want you involved, Elle." His large hands reach across and cover her smaller ones. They're so warm.

"If it's true, and if it's Peter, he was the one who killed my Daddy." She tries not to cry. She's cried enough today. "I owe him something."

"Let me handle this, please. It's bad enough he's gotten your dad." Gabriel tries to soothe her.

"...He almost got me, too." Elle admits quietly.

"I know. At the lake." Gabriel reminds her he was there.

"I wasn't talking about the lake, although now that I look back on it, he didn't bother trying to help me, did he?" Realization dawns on Elle. She feels stupid.

"A few murders in the city were staged to look accidental as well." Gabriel moves from the chair to sit beside Elle on her bed. It creaks noisily under their combined weight. "But which time are you talking about?"

"A few nights ago..." Elle starts. "The night I had that nightmare? When we... you know..." She doesn't mention the rest. Hates to think that it was all fake. "Well, I was getting air outside my cabin after I had my nightmare when I heard stuff going on inside the cabin. I was so terrified I just kept running. Then I ran into you and, well... you were there for the rest." Her tone is a little crueler than she intended, but the wounded look on Gabriel's face makes up for it. "But that's why I had my cabin switched to this one."

"You'll be alright." He promises. "I'm having you moved again. I have a feeling Peter saw you in here earlier when he and I were fighting. He'll probably be back here tonight."

"Where can I even go?" Elle almost shouts. "I doubt anywhere in this fucked up resort is safe."

"You'll stay with me." He suggests like there are no other options. "Nothing can hurt you when you're with me. Okay?"

Elle stares at the floor. She doesn't want Gabriel to see her cheeks flush. "Well, I still think I can help. I know how to fire guns, and I took a ladies' self defense class."

Gabriel slides his hand up and down Elle's back. The backless dress allows Elle the warm, comforting feeling of skin on skin. "I doubt that will be enough. Just stick close by."

"Is it even a good idea for me to stay with you?" Elle asks. "After what went on between us, added to the fact it was all an act to get me to trust you anyway, I just don't feel like it's right."

He kisses her bare shoulder. "What happened that night under the tree was a distraction, I'll admit." He pushes her long blonde hair to the side and kisses her neck. "But everything after," he tilts her chin toward his. "_Everything_ after was quite real." His dark eyes gaze into hers, showing her nothing but sincerity. "I really do like you, Elle." He nudges her nose with his, kisses her softly. "You're not just a job to me."

Elle returns his kiss, desperate to feel anything but the grief of her father's death. She clings to Gabriel; afraid if she doesn't hang on tight enough, he'll disappear and she'll really be alone. Impatient for more intimate contact, Elle takes it upon herself to tug the hem of Gabriel's shirt up over his stomach, over his arms, past his head. She cards her fingers through his unruly hair for a moment before resuming her attentions on his mouth.

Gabriel pulls Elle onto his lap, her legs straddling his. His hands cup and fondle her ass, her quickening breath only serving to encourage him in his actions. He starts to drag the light sundress up over Elle's thighs with one hand while the other pulls her panties down.

Eager to help out, Elle stands for a moment. She lets her panties drop to the floor while keeping her dress hiked up over her stomach. She lets Gabriel pull her back into his lap once he's freed himself from the confines of his pants and boxers. Elle teases the both of them, rubbing herself on Gabriel's hardening cock.

She gasps, pleased, when Gabriel slides the straps of her dress down her shoulders. He kisses and bites her neck and shoulders while he unzips the back of Elle's dress. He has to make several attempts as Elle's rocking against him proves to make things difficult. She stills, however, when Gabriel manages to slide the top of her dress down, baring her breasts to him.

He cups one of her breasts while pulling her tighter against him, trapping his erection between the two of them. Elle sighs into Gabriel's mouth, thrusts her hips against his. "Need you so bad, " she practically whines. The almost-triumphant look on Gabriel's face doesn't go unnoticed by Elle when he repositions himself, allowing her to fully seat herself on his throbbing member.

They're still for a moment, Elle accommodating herself to Gabriel's length. He slides a hand behind her neck, drawing her face to his. She kisses him deeply, thrusting herself up on his lap slightly. When he groans, deep in the back of his throat, Elle realizes she's found something that works for both of them. Slowly, almost teasing, she slides back down the length of him.

When both of Gabriel's hands reach back and grab her ass, Elle wraps her arms around his shoulders and pulls her chest against his. He sets the pace, guiding Elle along his cock while she hangs on for dear life. He's agonizingly slow, his hands forcing her to savor the moment, rather than rush her completion. When Elle tries to speed things up, he slaps her ass- a promise and a warning at the same time.

"God, Gabriel…" Elle pants. She wraps one arm about his shoulders, while the other cradles the back of his head. She kisses his neck, his mouth, lightly bites his earlobe while gasping. The sweat collects on their bodies, makes them slide against one another, slipping occasionally.

Gabriel lets out a moan that Elle feels in her chest, speeds his thrusting up. He knows Elle can't last much longer. He's not sure he can, either. He leans back, his shoulders resting against the wall. Elle leans forward, braces herself on her knees while still straddling Gabriel's lap. He pulls her hips tightly against his own; lets Elle grind herself against him. It's not much longer before she comes. He's not far behind, thrusting into her wetness erratically, whispering "Mine" over and over in her ear. It's enough to make Elle orgasm a second time. Feeling Elle clench and sigh and pull at his hair is all it takes for Gabriel to spill himself into her. Sated, they collapse on their sides in a tangle of sweaty limbs.

After cleaning themselves up, they lie naked in Elle's bed, planning what's to come next. He pillows his head with Elle's breasts, toying with a rogue strand of blonde hair across her collarbone. She strokes his hair back and rubs his shoulders. Gabriel suggests Elle come stay with him in the city when the summer is over. He has a small apartment, but she can stay with him. She won't even need to work. He promises to take care of her.

Flattered as Elle is, she refuses. "Daddy left behind a lot of responsibility for me. The company will go under if no one's there to mind it." She sighs and inhales his musky post-coital scent. "It'd be nice though... not have to worry about anything." She adds: "But I have to grow up sometime."

Gabriel wants to respond, but any words die in the back of his throat when the glare of blue and red lights shines through the cabin. He sits up first, peers through the fogged-out window by the bed. "Get dressed." He says quickly, grabbing for own clothes.

Elle doesn't bother questioning him, just pulls her dress back over her head, and looks around the floor for her discarded panties. "What do you think is going on?"

"Don't know," Gabriel answers, pulling his pants up. He steps outside, shirt forgotten, and holds the door open for Elle.

When she steps under the threshold, Elle immediately knows why the police are there. Across the lawn, she sees a police SUV in front of Peter's cabin. Angela is outside, barefoot with zinc on her nose, shouting at Bennet's scary partner to let her son go.

The tall man says nothing, just leads a handcuffed Peter into the back of the SUV while Bennet and another detective haul a large box into the trunk. When Peter looks out the window of the vehicle, his eyes instantly dart to Elle and Gabriel. He glares at Elle and shakes his head.

Although Peter is cuffed and in the police SUV, Elle can't help but curl her body against Gabriel's anyway. She feels one of his arms wrap around her waist, while the other rubs her shoulder. She should feel safe, but seeing that haunted look in Peter's eyes terrifies her.

"I don't think I can stay here another night." Elle says, her voice tiny against all the other noise and commotion going on. "I have to arrange Daddy's funeral, go over his will with the lawyers... figure out what's going on with the company."

"Do you want me to give you a ride into the city?" Gabriel asks. He brushes her bangs back from her face, kisses her forehead.

Elle squeezes Gabriel tighter, revels in his closeness. "I can drive myself back," she tells him. "Go for one more ride in that huge, old car." She looks up at him. "Do you have a number I can call you at? After everything's taken care of?"

"Sure," Gabriel says, leading Elle back into the cabin. He writes his name and a phone number beneath it, tears the paper in half. "You got one?"

Elle writes down her cell phone number and kisses the torn scrap of paper before handing it to him. "Keep in touch, huh?"

"Call me when everything's sorted out." He says.

After kissing him like her life depends on it, Elle promises to do just that. She sees him off, and then begins to pack all her belongings. She looks out her window across the lawn, once the police are gone, at her father's cabin. Bennet had asked to her look through the scene and see if anything was missing. He mentioned this serial killer had taken personal possessions from each victim. Elle wasn't about to pack her poor, dead Daddy's personal effects, but she was curious. _Was_ anything missing? If so, what would the killer take?

Elle moves as quickly as her sandals allow, across the grass to her father's old cabin. She slides past the crime scene tape, pleasantly surprised to find the door unlocked. After turning the knob, she steels herself for the scene. Daddy's blood- most of it not even dried yet, covers more of the floor than she realizes initially. It's everywhere. She's even stepping in it.

Making a mental note to throw out the sandals, Elle navigates around the over turned room. She searches through her Daddy's closet, his wallet, anything he had of value on him. She finds his gold watch sitting on his bedside table, flecks of blood oddly complimenting the metal on the timepiece.

As wrecked as the room is, Elle can't find one thing missing. Defeated, she leaves much the way she came in. She heads for the playhouse to get the keys to her Daddy's car. It's not long before her bags are brought over from her cabin and the big, black Cadillac pulls up. She thanks the valet, but has no cash to tip him. She slides into the car she was never allowed to drive and heads back to the city.


	8. She Asked You Nicely

After a few weeks, Elle arranges a successful funeral. The will is set up and she has a comfortable inheritance to live on. She decides to hand running the paper company over to Angela, who already runs a branch of it. Now the Petrelli matriarch is the head of the whole company. Elle's never had good business sense. Daddy's golden touch wasn't passed onto her. She retains the majority of stock holdings, however.

She decides that she'll stay in the city. She likes it here, already has the condo she shared with Daddy, although now she's got it all to herself. Elle thinks she'll hire an interior designer to give the place a face-lift, make it more feminine. Maybe she'll even get a dog. Mean old Daddy never let her have one.

Elle misses Daddy still, but she finds herself missing Gabriel as well. She imagines he's there watching bad 80's movies with her on the couch. Pretends he's beside her when she goes to bed at night. Wishes he were there when she went to Daddy's autopsy. She had to settle for clinging to the cute Indian guy in the morgue instead.

She wants to call Gabriel, but at the same time, she wants to wait until everything's settled. Elle thinks she'll call him once all of Daddy's stuff is moved out of the house. The movers come tomorrow. In the mean time, she can sell that car she can barely maneuver. She imagines trading in the big Caddy for a sporty little BMW. Maybe an M3. She's always liked Audis, too. A TT would be so much fun. Eh, why not _both_?

When she pulls into the European car dealership that afternoon, Elle spots a familiar face at the coffee shop across the street. She hastily parks the car, angering the GQ-looking salesman. She navigates through the busy traffic to greet the detective, ignoring crosswalks and 'Don't Walk' signs.

"Detective Bennet?" She asks, poking him in the back lightly. "Hi! It's-"

Bennet turns around. "Elle Bishop. How are you doing? Handling things okay?" He's got a shot of espresso in one hand and the newspaper in the other. With his glasses off, he looks like an entirely different person.

"So far, I guess. It's so weird not having Daddy to pick up after. I still miss him, but I suppose it's all a part of the grieving process and all that."

The detective only nods in response. "I lost my daughter recently, so I know how hard it can be."

Elle almost feels guilty for making everything about her. "God, I'm so sorry. What happened?"

"She was murdered." He answers conversationally.

"Just like Daddy..." Elle wants to hug Bennet, but he doesn't look like the hugging type. "Speaking of Daddy, thanks again for everything. I can at least sleep at night knowing Peter's in jail now."

"No one told you?" Bennet asks, once he's sipped his espresso. "The case is still open." He tosses the paper cup into the trash bin and shows Elle the newspaper headline: 'Petrelli Son Freed'.

Elle's at a loss. "I thought I saw you remove evidence from Peter's cabin. I saw you arrest him."

"Nothing stuck. He had solid alibis for every murder. Always with his mom or brother. Both of them also have proof Peter was with them." He looks uncomfortable for a second. "Kinda weird, how _close_ that family is, but..." He shrugs before changing the subject. "At any rate, I had to let him go."

"But the evidence!" Elle's on the verge of making a scene.

"No DNA. No prints." Bennet explains. "Sorry, Elle. Peter was released yesterday. I thought you knew."

"Your inside guy told me it was done." She fishes for any reason for Peter to be the killer.

Bennet seems confused. "Inside guy? I don't have any inside guys."

Her world shatters a little bit. "Excuse me. I have to go sell my car now." She walks quickly back across the street, cell phone in hand. She needs to get to the bottom of this. She ignores Bennet calling after her, instead unlocks the car and calls Gabriel. They need to have a talk.

He answers on the first ring. "Hello?"

"Hi Gabriel."

"There's my girl." He says sweetly.

Elle decides to play it flirty. She needs to get him to come out here without rousing any suspicion. "How are you?" She asks in her most innocent voice.

Gabriel heaves a sigh into the receiver. "Lonely."

Elle throws a pout into her voice. "Why?"

"I kinda miss having you around." He tells her, strumming his guitar as background noise. What song is that?

She's suspicious and angry with him, but she can't help but smile a little at his admission. "You do?"

"Yeah..." He plays the chorus of _'Are You Lonesome Tonight?'_ on his guitar as he talks softly into the phone. "You miss me?"

Elle's a bad liar. She knows she's dealing with a good one. So she sticks with the truth.  
"Uh-huh." She can't help but curl a strand of her hair around her finger while she listens to him play the guitar.

"I thought about you today," Gabriel says suddenly, still playing. "You think of me?"

"Yeah," Elle admits with an embarrassed laugh. "Like, all the time."

She can't hear his smirk, but she's sure it's there. "I have some good news." Gabriel says before pausing for effect. "Since it's been such a horrible season for Killermann's, they're closing early this summer. I can leave tonight if I want. Can I come by your place?"

The suggestion is all too convenient for Elle. She wants him to come by anyway, so she can confront him. She looks out the Cadillac's window, sees Bennet, still watching her. "Sure, I'll give you directions."

"You don't need to. I'm a cop remember?" He assures her. "I already looked you up. I'll be by at eight."

She's a little unsettled that he already knows where she lives, though at the same time she's flattered he went through the trouble of looking her up. Elle looks away from Bennet and starts the car. "I'll see you at eight, then."

"Can't wait." Gabriel says before hanging up.

Dinner arrives before Gabriel does, which gives Elle just enough time to make things seem perfect. She can't cook, but he doesn't need to know that. After placing the delivered food in pots and pans onto the stove to keep heated, she stashes the emptied containers in the trash, hoping they won't be visible from the dining room.

Once the dinner portion is taken care of, Elle quickly changes into a short black dress. She pulls her hair out of its clip and ruffles it a bit with her fingers before giving herself a once over in the mirror. Satisfied, she goes back to the dining room to set the table. She's finished a glass of pinot noir and arranged food on the plates by the time Gabriel buzzes the door to be let in.

He doesn't make it all the way in the door before Elle's mouth is on his. Gabriel guesses the wine she's been drinking while she leads him to the dining room for dinner.

She's nervous, not sure how to start the conversation. Distracted, Elle pushes a scallop around her plate and stabs at her vegetables. It doesn't go unnoticed by Gabriel.

"Not hungry?"

"I just..." Elle says quietly. She starts again, voice louder. "I have some stuff on my mind."

He tilts his head to the side, curious. "What kind of stuff?"

"Well... when I saw you and Peter yelling? Right after I moved my cabin?"

"What about it?"

"What were you two saying?" She asks. "What was it about?"

Gabriel dabs at the corner of his mouth. "It started when I ran into him outside after dinner was over. He was just kinda hanging out with his brother, like maybe they were waiting for me." He scoffs a little. "I think maybe he wanted to fight me, but then changed his mind or something." Anyway, I told him to stop lying to you about me."

Elle nods. She remembers seeing Gabriel say something to Peter first. He looked so angry then; his fists clenched, those dark eyes staring daggers into Peter's. Elle remembers the encounter being so intense she couldn't even move. She remembers wanting him so badly she balled the curtains up in her fists, not knowing what to do with herself. Angry Gabriel was a surprising turn-on.

"After that, Peter started mouthing off." He takes a moment to sip his wine. When he speaks again, his voice takes on a whiny, nasal tone. " 'I'll tell her whatever I want. But mostly, I'll tell her to stay away from trashy poor people like you.' That was when I tried to strangle him." Gabriel mutters into his wine glass: "Little bastard was lucky his big brother was standing there or I _would_ have."

"After that, you said something else to Peter?" Elle asks. She wants to hear the good part. "What did you say to him? It really seemed to get him to back off."

"I told him he was in for it," Gabriel says, pauses to appreciate Elle's enthralled expression. "I knew for a fact he was the killer because I saw him go with Charlie into the dining hall. I saw him leave without her. And when I went in there to see if she was okay... well, she was dead. Throat slit." He sets his wine glass down. "Let's not talk about bad stuff at dinner." He lifts his eyes to meet Elle's, changes the subject. "How was your day?"

"I was gonna sell Daddy's old car... but I changed my mind." Elle begins, carefully. "Ran into Detective Bennet at the coffee shop."

Gabriel arches an interested eyebrow. "How'd that go?"

Elle looks down at her dessert. How can she tactfully accuse him of lying to her? Again? Part of her is afraid he'll be angry, but part of her kind of wants him to be. She wants to see how mad he gets when she tells him Peter's been let go, too. Wants to test him.

"It was confusing." Elle begins. "He told me that he had to let Peter walk."

Gabriel doesn't say anything. Just watches Elle struggle to find her words.

"He also said," Elle continues, slowly. "He said that he never had an undercover cop at Killermann's." She lifts her gaze to Gabriel's.

He says nothing for what seems like an eternity to Elle. He just stares at her from across the too-long dinner table. She shifts a little uncomfortably in her seat, unsure of what to say next. 'If Peter isn't the killer, are you? Is it strange that I almost don't care? You promised you'd take care of me...' Before Elle can say anything, Gabriel blurts out what is quite possibly the most random thing Elle's ever heard.

"I love baseball, don't you?"

"What?"

"Baseball. You know, America's Past Time."

Elle can't figure out just where the fuck this is going. "Um. It's okay, I guess. Daddy always called it a three hour waste of time, but sometimes I like to catch a game."

"He's probably going to break that record tonight."

"Who?"

Gabriel explains that the star player of their city's team is about to break their homerun record. He'd like to see it happen. "...I'd _also_ like the bat."

Elle suddenly can't breathe. Her stomach lurches and she can feel the bile rise in her throat. Her vision blurs for a moment and her body doesn't seem to want to move. Did he really just say what she thinks he did?

Before she can process anything, Gabriel rises from his chair and strides with a feline grace across the dining room. His eyes never leave hers, not from the moment he grabs her wrist none-too gently until he pulls her from her seat. He grabs the keys to the Cadillac and drags her all the way down to the car. Elle sits numbly in the passenger's seat, stares straight ahead as Gabriel navigates through the busy Saturday night traffic until they arrive at the ballpark.

He's quiet until they meet their destination. "Looks like we missed the game. Guess we'll just have to catch him out back."

Elle fidgets and paces around the rear exit of the ballpark. The exit the players and staffers use. They wait only a few minutes until Gabriel's quarry appears. She looks from Gabriel, back to the athlete. Upon seeing Gabriel's nod, Elle walks over to ball player and coyly asks for his autograph.

"Sure thing, sweetheart." The baseball star agrees, whipping a pen out of his back pocket. What am I signing?"

Elle points to the bat and bites her bottom lip. "Well, I was wondering if I could have your bat."

"Oh, I can't do that." He tells her.

Elle pouts. "You can't?"

"Why not?" Gabriel asks, stalking over to the athlete. "She asked you nicely."

Before the ball player can respond, Gabriel grabs the bat and swings it hard against his skull. Teeth and blood explode out of the athlete's mouth as his head caves in against the force of the bat.

Elle can only watch as Gabriel repeatedly swings the bat against the ball player's head; the famous face, now unrecognizable. Blood pools around the body quickly, causing Elle to gingerly step away even though she can't tear her eyes from the brutal display of savagery.

With a wide, satisfied smile, Gabriel eases off the ball player. His face is flecked with blood, his hands covered. He holds the bat up, showing her his prize; like a kid with a new toy. Blood drips to the sidewalk, onto his clothes and shoes. "We can go now," he says, sounding breathless. "I got what I came for."

Elle says nothing. Just gets in the car.

Gabriel slides into the driver's side. He tosses the bloodied bat over his shoulder into the back seat, starts the car. The wolfish grin of his doesn't leave his face, even as Elle confirms her earlier suspicions.

"It was you? The whole time?" She doesn't sound angry. Doesn't sound scared. She's impressed more than anything. Maybe a little turned on.

"The whole time." Gabriel answers. He turns he wheel a little when he gets the car to the ramp on the high way. Blood smears all over Daddy's steering wheel.

"So you killed my Daddy?"

Gabriel's eyes dart from the road for a minute to study Elle. He knows what's going on in her head better than she does. He tells her what she already knows. "I'm your Daddy now."

"Why?" Elle asks. She doesn't cry. She almost wants to, but she doesn't. "Why'd you kill him?"

"He had something I wanted..." Gabriel tells her simply. He reaches across the space dividing them to softly stroke Elle's hair. He gets blood in it. "His beautiful daughter."

Elle squeezes her eyes shut, can't help wanting him. She scoots across the seat to be closer to Gabriel. "So it's me? What you killed him to get?" Her tiny hand massages the inside of Gabriel's thigh. "I'm his trophy?" She's pretty sure she's never felt more wanted than this.

"No." Gabriel tells her, feels her hand withdraw itself before he continues. "You're my treasure." He kisses the top of her head when her hand returns to his thigh. "Now I can keep you with me forever." Elle's hand travels over his already hardening cock. "Doesn't that sound good, baby girl," he breathes in her ear.

Elle bites her lip and unzips Gabriel's pants.

She's at the point where rational though escapes her. He's so bad; he's killed so many people. Then Elle realizes it's not that he's a killer that gets her excited. It's how powerful he is. Powerful like Daddy was. Only Gabriel is more powerful than Daddy could ever be.

She thinks of wolves; how when older alpha males become less efficient a younger, stronger, meaner wolf takes his place. She knows Daddy didn't have a chance. When it's survival of the fittest, fat lazy Daddy has no chance of beating out terrifyingly savage Gabriel. Elle frees Gabriel's erection and her mouth descends on his cock as he drives them back to her condo. It's that moment Gabriel becomes Leader of the Pack.

It's that moment Gabriel replaces Daddy.


	9. Sounds Complicated

They pull into the parking garage of Elle's condo going a trifle over the posted speed limit. Gabriel seems to have no problem drifting the large car around corner after corner until they reach the top level of the garage. If he's having trouble concentrating with Elle's mouth greedily sucking his dick, Gabriel does a stellar job of not showing it.

Elle gives it all the effort she can. She pumps him in her hand in time with her mouth, making sure to leave a messy, wet patch in his shorts. The way things are going tonight, he won't even need pants. She sucks him hard, taking him in as deep as her throat allows. In the back of her mind, Elle silently thanks God for not blessing her with a sensitive gag reflex. Gabriel does too, but communicates this through uncontrolled pants and gasps.

Once Gabriel manages to get the car parked, he's able to fully concentrate on what is hands down the best blowjob he's ever had. When the car's engine is shut off, his hands are free to keep Elle's hair out of her mouth. He holds the sides of her head and keeps it low, allowing his cock that perfect, deep angle with the most friction.

Elle's vision blurs with tears and lack of oxygen as Gabriel furiously thrusts himself up, deep into her throat. She doesn't mind, even gets a little more excited when she feels his saliva-slickened balls tighten up. He's close, she can tell. When his cock twitches, she closes her lips around it fully and moans lowly. The vibrations are enough to send Gabriel over the edge, coming in Elle's eagerly waiting mouth.

Elle is careful to swallow most of it, but leaves all her spit and drool on Gabriel's still-twitching member. She reaches into the glove compartment and hands him some napkins. She watches, amused, as Gabriel cleans himself off. Still overly sensitive, his body spasms while he clears Elle's saliva from himself.

"I'll never be able to drive again without thinking about that." Gabriel confides in her. He tosses the balled up napkins out the window and sighs heavily. "I feel like slipping into a coma."

"Wait 'till we get inside for that." Elle says. She kisses his cheek affectionately before hopping out the passenger's side of the car. She twirls the keys to her condo on her finger, beckoning Gabriel to follow.

He slides out of the car, locking it as he leaves it. He makes some complaint about the wet spot on his pants, but overall doesn't seem to mind. When Elle invites Gabriel to stay the night, he doesn't even entertain the thought of refusing.

They walk to the elevator, Elle's noisy heels the only evidence they're even moving. Gabriel reaches his hand out and twines his fingers with Elle's, drying blood settling itself into the lines of their palms. Once they make it to the elevator, Gabriel pulls Elle against his body and holds her close to him.

"That was amazing." He tells her. He buries his nose in her hair, breathes her in. "I'm so glad I could share that with you."

Elle wants to make a witty remark about her oral sex skills, but knows better. He's not referring to that. He's referring to _that_. "I'm glad I could be there." She cuddles closer, enjoying the familiarity of being held by another person. Daddy barely ever hugged her, and here Gabriel is holding her as close as he can with clothing separating them. She closes her eyes and hangs onto him in case he changes his mind and tries to get away.

"Is it always that raw? That intense?" She asks, thinks of how animalistic and brutal Gabriel looked with the dead athlete's blood decorating his face.

"Always." He whispers into her blood-streaked hair. Holds her tighter when she shivers. "Sometimes better."

"Next time," Elle begins. She looks up at Gabriel, stares into his almost-black eyes. "Next time, I want to try it." She's vaguely aware she sounds like a teenager asking to try pot next time her friends decide to toke up, and she can't help but feel a little ridiculous.

At least not until Gabriel smiles gently down at her. She likes what he does; wants it, too. Wants him. She's only mildly aware that this is what madness is supposed to feel like, but she gladly kisses her sanity goodbye since Gabriel looks at her like he's in love with her. He _has_ to, she thinks. She needs him to.

"Okay." He agrees, kisses her softly. "Anything for my girl." Elle can't contain the girlish squeal she emits at getting her way.

The elevator makes a polite dinging noise when it arrives at their floor. They walk the length of the hallway, swinging their arms together like lovesick kids. They make it inside the condo before Gabriel announces for the second time how tired he is.

Elle manages to steer him to the bathroom to a shower first. She unceremoniously divests Gabriel of his clothing and shoves him into the shower stall with a slap on his behind. "No funny business, just get cleaned up."

Gabriel drags her in with him anyway, pulls Elle under the warm spray of water. Dried blood cakes in her blonde hair, leaving dark red clumps and pink streaks."I'm still dressed!" She not-quite whines.

Gabriel pulls her dress off, then her panties and bra. He's nothing if he's not efficient. "Not anymore," he says while he washes her hair, careful to get all the blood out.

Once the dark blood has rinsed clean, pink staining the bottom of the shower stall, the couple dry off and climb into Elle's bed. Elle lies on her side, Gabriel on his as well, facing her. She rests her head on his pillow and talks quietly, like they're going to be caught at any moment.

"Gabriel."

"Hmm?" He answers, sleepy eyes already sliding closed.

"Do you love me?" She asks. She thinks he _must_ after everything that's happened, everything he's done to ensure she became his… Still, a little reassurance goes a long way. Reassurances from Gabriel have never really been a solid thing for Elle to rely on ("I'm a cop, remember?" "We've been trailing Peter for months", "Bennet would kill me"), but she needs to hear it from his mouth anyway.

His eyes open and narrow themselves. They seem to look straight through hers into her soul. He almost looks upset she's even asking. "When you want something so bad," he begins slowly, speaking to Elle like she's a child, trying to make her understand him. "It becomes all you can think about. You can't eat, can't sleep… it starts to consume you. Every thought, every gesture you make. Even when you blink, you can still see it." His big, warm hand rubs her arm. "I couldn't even function properly until I had you."

Elle sucks in a breath and holds it there. She waits for the bad part.

Gabriel continues. "I killed a lot of people to get you in a position where I could meet you. Befriend you." His voice drops an octave for effect. "Seduce you."

Elle can't help but flush at the memory, thankful the room is too dark for Gabriel to see.

"Even though I knew it would be a huge risk, I even took something away from _you_. Something you loved more than anything in the world." His eyes search her face, making sure she knows his reasons were justified. "I only take things from people I _kill_. When I took your father from you, I did it knowing full-well what I was doing."

"What _were_ you doing?" Elle asks, her voice tiny. She doesn't much like this conversation. In truth, she's a little afraid this is where it will end for her. He took her Daddy away. He kills people he takes things from.

"I was taking _you_ away from _him_." Gabriel convinces her. "It was the only way it could work. I couldn't have you otherwise."

"Sounds complicated." Elle says. She understands his reasons. Does it make it worth it? She's not quite sure yet.

"Love is always complicated." Gabriel breathes against her lips before kissing her carefully.


	10. And it Better Not Be What I Think it Is

In the morning, Gabriel makes breakfast while Elle putters around the house. She floats from room to room; newspaper in one hand, coffee in the other. She's restless and eager for her outing with Gabriel. She kept him up half the night with questions he didn't seem to mind answering. She wonders if she's prepared for this. Is it really as effortless as Gabriel makes it look? He's so graceful and strong; he could make anything look easy. Elle contemplates backing out, but knows she'd lose her Gabriel if that happened. Probably her life as well, but that seems less important.

"I made waffles," Gabriel calls across the condo. He stacks them high on plates while Elle shuffles her way into the kitchen. He tells her how he hates the smell of that God-awful flavored coffee she drinks, kisses her anyway.

When Elle hands him the paper, he puts his glasses on. She watches his eyes skim the article about the baseball player found dead outside the stadium until he gets to the good part. He reads it aloud to her, like a kid's story. Once the article is finished, Elle clips it out of the paper and adheres it to the refrigerator with a neon pink flower magnet.

"So tonight," Elle begins. "I want to make it special, you know?"

"It will be." He promises.

She wants to ask him how his first kill went when the buzzer over the intercom rings. It's way too early for company, this better be good. Elle shuffles barefoot across the floor and presses the 'Talk' button. "Who is it?" She sing-songs.

"Is this Elle Bishop?" A nervous voice asks.

"Maybe..." Elle teases. "Who's asking?"

"It's me, Elle." The voice responds. "It's Peter."

Elle looks from the intercom, then to Gabriel across the way in the kitchen. He only shrugs and pours himself a glass of juice. "What do you want, Peter? I'm in the middle of something."

"Can I come up and talk to you?" Peter asks. He adds "Please." as an afterthought.

"I don't feel like you should be up here, Peter." Elle says into the intercom. "If you have something to say to me, say it from the entrance."

"It wasn't me. The murders, I mean." Peter's frustrated voice crackles over the intercom. "I came by to try and clear the air, but also to warn you. I talked to Bennet. He said he was worried about you. He said you met someone pretending to be a cop at Killermann's?"

Elle looks from the intercom to Gabriel, who only waggles his eyebrows comically at her. She manages not to laugh at him, tries to come up with a bullshit excuse to make Peter go away instead. "Oh that. Yeah, well I was really confused at the time and all. I was somehow under the impression that one of the people in my guitar class was a cop."

"Wasn't Gabriel, was it?" Peter asks like he doesn't already know the answer.

"Gabriel?" Elle says. She doesn't expect her voice to hitch the way it does. Be less obvious, she chides herself. "Don't be silly, of course not. He's too-" She pauses to admire Gabriel. He's the perfect picture of domesticality with a coffee cup in his hands and those nerdy glasses on his face while he reads the paper. He winks at Elle when he feels her eyes on him. "He's too shy to really be a cop, I thought." Gabriel's amused snort doesn't go unnoticed.

"I'd really prefer to not do this over the intercom, Elle." Peter suggests after heaving a sigh.

"Sorry, Peter," Elle apologizes as Gabriel puts the paper down and heads into the bedroom, motioning for Elle to invite Peter in. "If... if you give me a few minutes, I can get dressed. But you need to be quick."

"I can wait." Peter insists.

Elle steps away from the intercom and heads into the bedroom after Gabriel. She watches him get dressed quickly. He pulls a pistol from his jacket. Elle doesn't ask where it came from. "What do we do?" She asks.

Gabriel shakes his head, pushes his glasses up on his nose. "I didn't exactly plan for this." He tucks the pistol into the back of his pants, hiding it under his shirt. "We may need to get out of here. Start getting dressed."

She does as she's told. Doesn't put too much effort into her appearance. She slides on some jeans and a sweater since it's been getting colder out. "Shoes?" She asks.

"Something you can run in." Gabriel suggests.

Elle pouts. She's always been a jeans and heels kinda girl, but she supposes they're not really the ideal footwear for outrunning nosey people. She has an idea when she finishes tying her trainers. "Should I kill Peter?" Her problems might not _all_ disappear, but she never was very good at setting long-term goals. "He'd definitely leave us alone."

Gabriel thinks on it for a second. He tries to figure out a way for it to work. Elle's about to abandon her idea when Gabriel speaks again. "You said you had experience firing guns?"

"Well, not to brag, but I spent a few afternoons at the firing range." Elle explains. "Daddy never wanted to take me, of course... but I can hit a target."

"If things get difficult between you and Peter, come back in here. I'll wait until you think it's time." He brushes her bangs away from her face and gives her a serious look. "Don't do this unless you're sure."

She doesn't think she could live any other way _but_ with Gabriel. She hates to think someone would dare to take him from her. If Peter tries anything, Elle thinks, she'll make him regret it. "I'm sure." Elle confirms. "More than sure."

Gabriel kisses her forehead. "I want to be there. I want to watch you do it." His big hands grip her shoulders so tightly; Elle thinks they'll leave bruises.

Elle makes a noise somewhere between a delighted sigh and a pained whimper before Gabriel lets her go. "I'll come get you before I do anything." She promises. "I'll make you so proud." She gives him a light kiss before heading back out to the living room to buzz Peter up to the apartment. "Okay Peter, I'm decent." She says flirtily. She hits the 'Door' button and waits by the door.

Peter arrives at her door sooner than anticipated. When he knocks, Elle doesn't bother checking the peephole. When she opens the door, she's shocked to find Peter there with Detective Bennet; trench coat-ed, expression sour.

"If I knew I was having this much company, I'd have baked something." Elle lies, gesturing for the two men to enter. "What can I do for you boys?"

Bennet doesn't answer, simply looks around the apartment. Takes notices in the fact that there's food for two on the table. Peter seems almost apologetic at his ambush. "Have you been seeing anyone lately, Elle?"

Elle arches an eyebrow at Peter. What a weird question to open with. "Um, not that it's any of your business, but yes."

"Care to tell us his name?" Peter prods. It's a good thing he took up nursing instead of criminal justice.

Elle ignores him. "Detective, can I help you find anything? You seem like you're looking for something."

Bennet stops surveying the condo and gives Elle a dark look. "Where were you last night?" He pulls the article from the refrigerator and reads a few lines before he realizes what it's about.

Elle shrugs. "I was here, watching bad movies and drinking wine by myself. Such is the life of a lonely single girl." She eyes Peter, who looks increasingly uncomfortable.

Bennet looks at Peter, who moves toward the front door. He pulls a folder out of his coat's inside pocket. When he opens it, Elle sees large black and white photos of herself with the baseball player. She never thought to look for cameras last night. Shit. Bennet looks from the damning photos back to Elle. "Are you sure you were here?"

"Positive." Elle says, her voice thick. She tries to ignore the hammering of her heart as Bennet shows her more photos. Photos of Gabriel bludgeoning the athlete to death while she stands by and watches, then leaves with him in her father's car.

"She looks an awful lot like you." Bennet says, pointing to Elle in the photo. "And this car looks just like the one your father drove." He holds the picture in front of her face. "And _he_ looks very similar to our friend Gabriel Gray."

Gray? Elle mentally tries the surname on. Elle Gray. Sounds too much like Earl Gray tea. Maybe she'd hyphenate her last name. Bishop-Gray sounds awkward on the tongue and looks too much like a law firm when pictured. She'll definitely keep her last name, she decides.

"Got nothing to say, Elle?" Bennet asks.

Elle shakes her head. "So what do you want? You wanna haul me in for questioning? Take me to jail? What?"

"I want to bargain with you." Bennet says. "If you can hand me Gray, I'll forget all about these photographs." He tosses the folder to the floor and all the pictures spill out. "I've been chasing him for years and this is the closest I've gotten. I can't afford to let him slip away. If you help me, then what happened at the ballpark never happened."

"And I'll vouch for you." Peter promises like he's the fucking authority on good and evil.

Elle hesitates for a moment. Life could go back to normal. She'd be bored, alone, and pining for affection. No one to pay any attention to her. Daddy gone. Gabriel in jail. She thinks about that puppy she wanted to get when she first got home. Maybe it wouldn't all be bad.

"I just need to use the bathroom." Elle says, heading for the bedroom. "Then we can go."

"We'll wait." Bennet says, taking a seat on the couch.

Peter's eyes follow Elle to her bedroom until she closes the door.

Elle shuts the door to the bedroom and finds Gabriel pacing in the master bathroom. "What do I do!?" She whispers, frantic. "They won't leave without me, but I have a really bad feeling I shouldn't trust them. I think they wanna take me away."

Gabriel's hands instantly grab her around her wrists. "You go nowhere without my say so. Especially not with _them_."

Elle pouts. "I don't want to go with them. They think I'm going to sell you out."

"So they want _me_, huh?" Gabriel says. He looks like he has an idea. "Let's give them what they want."

"Why can't we just leave?" Elle asks. She pauses, then lowly adds: "Or just kill them."

He smiles what Elle thinks of as his Big Bad Wolf smile. She can't help but smile, too. "We'll get out of here..." Gabriel promises. "But I need you to trust me."

Elle throws her arms around his neck and presses as much of her body as she can against his. She loves how bad he makes her. "Of course I trust you, Daddy." She wraps a leg around him and grinds hard against his thigh.

Gabriel responds by kissing her roughly, then turns her around so her back is facing him... "I need you to get in front of me." Elle does as she's told. "Now put your hands behind your back, so it looks like I've got you tied up." She folds her hands behind her back, looks over her shoulder at him. "Good girl."

She beams at his praise. New Daddy is so much nicer than mean Old Daddy. "This is really exciting!"

"Let's go." Gabriel pulls Elle against him, grabs the letter opener from her desk, and pushes her out the door.

Elle can't suppress a shiver "Ooh, are you hard?"

Gabriel pretends to ignore her comment, though he can't deny the truth. "Act scared for me, okay?" He puts the letter opened to her throat.

Elle begins to whimper and sob. She even manages to get some fake tears flowing. "Oh God, I can't believe this..."

"Nobody fucking move!" Gabriel shouts as she shoves Elle out of the bedroom, using her like a shield.

Elle cries convincing tears as she begs Bennet "Don't shoot, you might hit me!"

The detective hesitates long enough for Elle to reach back for the gun tucked into the back of Gabriel's pants.

"Don't do anything stupid, Elle." Gabriel warns her. "I swear I'll fucking kill you." He presses the letter opener closer to her throat.

Bennet uses the moment to retrain his gun at Gabriel's head. Elle manages to pull the gun out and shoot Bennet first, getting him twice in the stomach. When the detective hits the floor, Gabriel runs over to him, crouching to collect his gun.

"That's a pretty painful way to die, detective." Gabriel gloats. He picks Bennet's gun up and switches the safety off.

Peter stands frozen in shock. "Elle!? What are you doing?"

"Stopping you." She aims her gun on Peter "You almost ruined everything."

"You look good with that gun, baby girl," Gabriel praises. When Bennet gasps on the floor, he kicks him hard in the stomach.

Elle bites her bottom lip and grins. "I know, Daddy..."

"Jesus, you're crazy... both of you." Peter decides.

Elle shoots at Peter, but misses. "Shut up!"

Peter shakes his head. "Don't you get it, Elle? He'll kill you, too. He's killed a lot of girls that look a lot like you. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Same age range..."

"No he won't." Elle denies. "He killed everyone else to _get_ me. I'm _special_."

Bennet, apparently still alive, intervenes. "He said my Claire was, too. And he killed her just like he did all the others."

Elle looks at Gabriel. "You never said anything about any _Claire_." She spits the dead girl's name out like poison.

"He's lying to turn you against me." Gabriel tries to convince her. He kicks Bennet again for good measure. "It's the oldest trick he knows."

"I've told you about Claire before, Elle." Bennet continues, breathless. "The same day you probably found out about the real Gabriel. The one that killed your father."

Elle's getting angry. She hates to think Gabriel had anyone before her. Loved anyone before her. "Is this true? Am I some kind of runner-up?"

"What? No, of course not." Gabriel stalls. "I even killed her to take something of hers."

Elle grits her teeth. "What did you take?" She pulls hammer back on the gun. "And it better not be what I think it is."

Gabriel only kicks Bennet a third time. The detective coughs up some blood on his shoes.

"You hairy _fuck_..." She aims gun at Gabriel. "You told me you killed a lot of people to get to me! You killed my Daddy because you wanted me! Am I some fucking zombie replacement?"

"How could you even think that way?" Gabriel asks, genuinely hurt. "I watched you for so long. I waited so patiently. I may have killed girls that looked like you…" He shrugs at this. "But it was you the whole time that I wanted. That's why I killed them."

Elle narrows her angry blue eyes. "I'm having a really hard time believing you right now. I hope to God for your sake that you have some fucking proof." She keeps her gun trained on Gabriel.

Gabriel holds the hand with the gun in it up and reaches behind to get something out of his back pocket. He pulls out a newspaper clipping yellowed with age. He tosses it across the floor to Elle. When Elle bends down to pick it up, Peter starts to yell, but she stands back up and gives him a 'You're Next' look that shuts him up rather effectively.

"This is probably four years old." Elle says after looking at the photo. She's just turned sixteen and she's in the expensive dress Daddy bought her for her debutante ball. She's the picture of young, spoiled, and rich. And Gabriel's wanted her since then.

"Four years and eight months." Gabriel corrects her. "But who's counting?"

Elle wants to cry, to profess her undying love and devotion, to get the fuck out of this house and out of this life and run far away with Gabriel. But first, she needs to take care of something.

"Peter."

Peter looks like a cornered animal. He tries to back himself up closer to the door, but it's impossible. There's nowhere to go. He looks from Elle, to Bennet's bloodied form on the floor, then back to Elle.

Elle waves him away with the gun in her hand. "Get out of here."

"What!" Gabriel asks.

"Elle, I-" Peter begins, but he's cut off by Elle.

"Before I change my fucking mind, get out of here."

Peter wastes no time. His sweaty hand turns the doorknob once, but slips. He can feel both of the killers' eyes on him as he tries the door, successfully, a second time. He doesn't bother to close it on his way out.

"Are you stupid?" Gabriel asks.

Elle turns around and crosses the room to stand beside him, looming over Bennet. "Not at all." She looks down at Bennet. "Now then, where were we?"

"Peter is going to tell everyone what we just did up here!" Gabriel is almost shouting. "The cops will be here any minute."

"We'll be gone before they get here." Elle says, checks Bennet to see if he's breathing. He is. "Let's take care of this and go." She puts the gun to the detective's head and fires.

Gabriel helps her stand all the way up and grabs the Cadillac's keys from the key ring by the door. On the way to the car, he can't help but ask why she let Peter go.

Elle grins as she slides into the car. "Someone's gotta tell people what we did. Bearing witness and all that."

"But you didn't take anything from Bennet." Gabriel says, starting the car. Elle may have started out on the wrong foot, but he wasn't about to sully his own collection. She can take full credit for that one.

"I took enough." She says. She scoots across the seat and lays her head on his shoulder. "He was trying to take you. He doesn't get to do that." She kisses his cheek sweetly and adds: "No one does."

He's pacified by this, content even. "So what do we do now?"

Elle looks out the window, watching the buildings shrink as they get further away from the city. She thinks of her dead mother, reunited with her dead father. Thinks of what Peter's doing right now, who he'll tell first about the ordeal in her condo. She's not worried about her money or her family's business. Not worried about anything. She's gotten her way.

"Anything we want." She answers.

"Any destinations in mind?"

Elle doesn't even need to ponder that one. "Hawaii is always nice, don't you think?"


End file.
